Cynthia Pittmann, PhD is a writer based in Puerto Rico who motivates people to write and live a creative connected life through sharing her own stories, poems, and photography.
"The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away." ~Pablo Picasso
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Puerto Rican Christmas Food: Pasteles

Christmas in Puerto Rico: Plantains!

I'm not sure if the bananas in this truck are plantains but they look about the right size. Plantains are called platanos in Spanish but when I lived in San Diego, California, I often saw them on the shelves at the now defunct Alpha Beta grocery store under the name of "macho bananas". ( I wonder what that referred too?)

During the holiday season in Puerto Rico, which starts just before Thanksgiving Day, these large green bananas are in high demand principally because the favorite holiday dish features a mashed banana paste (masa). I usually order mine from Dona Christina because she makes them without meat upon request. If I ever motivate myself enough, I will adapt a version of the following recipe(please follow the link for exact directions).

"Pasteles are Puerto Rican special occasion food.
The whole family usually gets together assembly-line-style to make large
numbers of these starchy parcels and get them ready for the boiling
pot. No Boricuan Christmas is complete without pasteles."

If you prefer, you can watch this YouTube video on how to make pasteles. It shows an adapted recipe that is made by a Puerto Rican woman in the United States.
Feliz Navidad to all!

6 comments:

Nice. I was born in P.R., raised in N.Y. I now live in New Mexico where platanos are easy to get but not any of the other ingredients. Still, we travel to get them and las week we finished making our first batch. They're delicious.

We make a soup out of green mashed bananas with coconut juice ...delicious! It's a Tanzanian/Chagga dish. Interesting variations across cultures. In Uganda they have "matoke" made from mashed sweet bananas. Also scrumptious. I want to try pastales!! Happy New Year!!!

PHOTOGRAPHY by Cynthia Pittmann

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About Me

I am a writer of prose and poetry, life-artist, friend to humans, animals
and nature.
In the OWL blog, I post my photographs and write about living in Puerto
Rico as well as offer creative writing ideas, explore art, music,
photography and discuss books I'm reading.
I have a PhD in literature and my dissertation, "Interactive
Autobiography," focuses on developments in contemporary autobiography.
At the moment, I am working on two non-fiction writing projects.
One is a memoir about my mother, Susan Pittmann, who was murdered in a
hate crime (along with her wife Christine Puckett). The other project is
an experiential book about creative writing.
Readers who enjoy POETRY and PHOTOGRAPHY, I invite you to SUBSCRIBE to
my blog at cynthiapittmann.wordpress.com.
You are welcome to connect with me at these social networking sites:
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Susan Pittmann and Chris Puckett

PFLAG Straight for equality

Pittmann-Puckett Art Gallery

LGBTQ support organization: My mothers were founding members of Affirmations in Downriver Michigan

The Indelible Heart

The second novel that references Mom and her partner is published! (click to order)

Susan Pittmann (16 years old)

Mom's playful spirit is thriving on Oasis Writing Link™

Mama by Il Divo "Thank you for all that I am...I hope you are proud of me"

Invitation

I invite you to follow the hyperlinks to Brian Alexander's Pittmann Puckett Documentary (the rainbow over Michigan image) and Marianne Martin's new book, The Indelible Heart, both of these creative projects are related to the murders of my mother, Susan Pittmann and her life-partner, Christine Puckett. Supporting creators such as Brian and Marianne helps us to cultivate a more humane and loving world.

The Pittmann/Puckett Documentary

My mother square dancing in red cowboy boots. "Swing your partner 'round and 'round/ with a pocket full of rocks to keep you down."

Can we realize our connection?

Most people are on the world not in it-have no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them-undiffused, separate and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate. John Muir

Compassion Opportunities

The Soaring Impulse

It has been my experience that whenever one human being reaches out to another in compassion, a bridge is built. A bridge which leads out of despair, into the light of hope and the possibility that tomorrow will hold a few less tears than yesterday.